Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) Program

The Virginia University of Oriental Medicine’s Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine program will provide advanced training for the purpose of deepening an Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine practitioner’s existing knowledge and skills and broadening their competencies in core, specialty and clinical areas – in particular the areas of clinical assessment, diagnosis, and intervention. VUOM’s DAOM program will impart on its graduates a deepened ability to apply major acupuncture and/or Oriental medicine (AOM) related specialties and areas of concentrations.

At this time, the Virginia University of Oriental Medicine’s Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine is not accredited or pre-accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM). Graduates of this program are not considered to have graduated from an ACAOM accredited or pre-accredited program and may not rely on ACAOM accreditation or pre-accreditation for professional licensure or other purposes.

This program is eligible for ACAOM accreditation and the Virginia University of Oriental Medicine is currently in the process of seeking ACAOM pre-accreditation/accreditation for the DAOM program. However, the Virginia University of Oriental Medicine can provide no assurance that pre-accreditation or accreditation will be granted by ACAOM.

Students enrolled in this program are not currently eligible to participate in the Federal grant and loan programs based on ACAOM’s approval.

Program Details

• Program Length: 1260 hours / 8 quarters (or 2 years)
• Didactic Hours: 600 / Clinical Hours 660 / Total Number of Credits: 93
• Schedule: Modular-based. Once a month for 4 days, Thursday to Sunday
• DAOM Classes meet just one 4-day weekend per month – Thursday to Sunday – for two years.
• Capstone research tailored to your personal interests.

The Objectives of the Master’s Program is to create leading practitioners of Integrative Medicine through student centered educational structures and experiences that will produce the following competencies

1. Defend an etiology of disease from an Acupuncture perspective and utilize this to create and recommend disease prevention strategies.
2. Have the ability to formulate a logical treatment principle from an Integrative Medical diagnosis, which can be put into action utilizing Acupuncture modalities.
3. Evaluate patients exhibiting complaints from within the appropriate scope of practice utilizing the Four Pillars of Diagnosis to formulate a treatment plan.
4. Gain knowledge of traditional methods of assessment and appropriate treatment of patients.
5. Demonstrate competency in administering a treatment plan as part of the clinical encounter
6. Identify and demonstrate knowledge of situations and symptoms which necessitate the need for referral to an appropriate health care professional.
7. Demonstrate the ability to communicate in a professional manner the oriental medicine concepts and diagnoses to other qualified complementary healthcare professionals.
8. Outline and model personal and professional ethical standards.